Amelie, who just turned 2, got this hispanic doll.
They kind of look alike.
And a new 3-lb. teacup Chihuahua named “Steve.” Steve Holt.
Averi & Steve-the-Dog:
Amelie has a doll-doppelganger and a new dog
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Category Archives: Mi Familia
The great and fearful day of the cake
It’s a cake kind of day.
Trepidation. Fear and trembling. You know: your basic I-don’t-really-know-what-the-heck-I-am-doing-but-I-will-try-it-anyway-knowing-the-party-is-an-hour-or-two-away-and-if-it-doesn’t-work-out-the-whole-thing-is-RUINED kind of day. I roll like that.
Today is Amelie Belle’s party. Because she is 2 now. She is a cutie-patootie and her Nonna loves her. So, she is getting (not sure if it was her actual request or just her mama’s, hehe) a 2-tier pale-pink ruffle cake with a bow on top.
Bottom tier: triple-layered chocolate fudge cake with with chocolate fudge filling. Yes, you can see some chocolate peeking through. Because I hurry.
Top tier: double-layered lemon-poppy-seed with some very delish fresh lemon curd for filling.
The ruffle technique. First time try. Whole cake covered: 7 minutes. Nice, fast way to go!
The cake stand, btw, is a ice cream dish and a plate, both from The Dollar Tree, glued together. Pale blue pain inside the upside-down ice cream dish. Needs a touch-up, but simple and quick.
A boy and a fistful of pens
Gavin was looking at some ways a few of our Heaven Fest peeps were putting their thoughts about HF being a platform to communicate the Father heart of God into their own personal expression. We had charts and words and photographs and lots of creativity starting to flow.
He grabbed some vellum and an assortment of pens and markers and made his own.
I am almost 100% certain this design will show up on a t-shirt. Worn by a boy with the cutest littled freckled face and the sweetest heart ever.
One generation shall praise Your works to another
Giving all the ticket money away
When you throw a million dollar event but give away A L L the ticket money
for the poor, the hungry and thirsty
for the exploited (sex-traded) children of the world
for the orphan (and fatherless), for the widow (and the single-parents in our area),
and
when the Family of God gathers to worship and pray
to sing along, to cheer and worship
and
when you rent out hundreds of acres so Father can call His children together for a little reunion
when you have a day where almost a third of those gathering are people who don’t know Jesus yet, but some one in the fam brought them, prayed over them, is beliving God for their salvation and they got a free admission just so we could introduce them to Jesus…
when 2000 volunteers sweat and work for the glory
and Jesus is the headliner and you see all the races and all the denominations and every age represented and they just forget their dividing lines and join in one song for one God, and one reason
and when 40,000 people encounter the father heart of God and through the gift they GIVE when they walk through the front gate, nations are impacted and
wells are dug and the hungry are fed and
children are adopted
and the suicidal find hope and life and
lives are transformed
and the Name of Jesus is made glorious
Then the money spent was well worth it. Every dollar, multiplied in its’ impact. On real people. Real lives. Changed.
It is not about the concert. It is not about the bands. It is about the love of a Father, expressed to those He loves. On earth as it is in heaven.
400 people giving $3000 over then next 10 months can make this happen.
I am just thinking out loud. About giving away every dollar of admission/ticket money and how we can still do all this more, as family, anyway.
Happy Birthday #2, Amelie Belle!
You’re my little Belle-Baby.
2 cute!
2 Sweet.
You can’t be beat.
2 kisses will do
2 say I LOVE you!
You are a super-tiny little booger, o-yes-you-are! The weight of a feather, but fast as a train, smart as whip and o-so- funny, my little comedienne! You love your mommy and copy your daddy and the singing is sweet. The singing is loud. The singing is intense. I love to hear you sing.
Hey, remember when you were one?? LOOK!
And…
Here are some birthday Bible words for Y-O-U!
From Psalm 8: Oh, Amelie Belle – the Lord, our LORD – how majestic is His name in all the earth! He has even taught you, tiny little girl, to sing-sing-sing of His great strength and your song reaches the heavens and even silences God’s enemies and anyone who opposes His ways. He has made you just a little lower than the angels and crowned you with glory and honor. He has given you charge over everything He has made.
From Psalm 100. So shout with joy to the Lord, Amelie Belle! Worship Him with gladness and come before Him singing with joy. Tell everybody you know that the Lord is God! He made you, you belong to Him. You are His little lamb! So you can walk right into His gated meadowlands with a great big thankful heart! And you can go into His palace rooms with songs of praise! Thank Him everyday, sweet Amelie, and give Him praise because He is so good to you. He will love you beyond the end of time as we know it. That love will never fail. Not ever. and He will still be doing all this good stuff even for your children and theirs. Sing, little girl, sing!
SURE do love you, Amelie Belle! xxoo {nonna}
Happy Birthday to my David Allen Rhoades
Dang, babe. You’re just hitting your stride. At work on your third (?? losing count) novel, in the upcoming stage production of “Into the Woods,” being chosen to play Jean Valjean in the upcoming “Les Mis” production, running a massive Christian music festival, grandpa, dad, friend, lover, artist, intercessor, gun-toter…ETC! You are the best thing I did for my children, you are the most longsuffering husband ever. On your birthday, you are my gift.
This is the life you give me:
Jean Valjean to Fantine (Les Mis)
“And you’re [God's] creation. In His eyes, you have never been anything but an innocent and…beautiful woman.”
:)
It’s the little things…
My over-the-stove microwave was making this annoying vibration sound.
So Dave “fixed it” for me. Because having a screwdriver protruding from my microwave is way less annoying, right?
Haha. It is how he shows love.
Our newest son
Ryan.
Ryan Faaland. I have only known him for a year and 6 days. But all along he was being prepared, God was readying our family and preparing the way for him to be grafted into the Rhoades tribe. He and Tredessa fell for each other quickly and I am pretty sure that his first huge family dinner with us made him like Tredessa even more. Haha.
We asked him 10,872 questions. And it was loud. And we played Charades. He laughed easy and he fit – just right. Prepared. A new son…
Happy 28th Birthday, Ryan!
Your parents raised a good son. I know they are pleased with the man you have turned out to be. You are a man of integrity and character. You are caring and affectionate. You are the tender love God wanted to bless Tredessa with. You were prayed for and highly anticipated. You were long-awaited and appointed to a place of high honor, that of the man of Tredessa’s dreams – a place so unique, so protected in its’ scope and future, 3 massive music festivals turned up dry, man-wise. There was only one who would do…and it was you.
Just words.
Below is your “birthday card.” It has a few of the words that describe you, things I see, things I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to impress upon you. I hope you will know the deep, full meaning of each. I pray your heart will resonate as these things confirm God’s call on your life, His plans for you, and His deep love for you, Ryan.
I wrote “You brought a part we didn’t know we were missing.” And even though we were waiting for you and looking for you, the gift God gave was more than we could have hoped or asked. We didn’t even know what we really needed. But God is good and He knew. And we love Him for the gift. We love you!
{mom}
These are the days of faith
Check out Tara’s adoption blog {click}
Here they are. Dave, Tara, and Hunter Magoo. They are waiting to be chosen, so they can choose. They are preparing for the baby they cannot see…yet.
“…faith… is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. Hebrews 11.1,2 The Message
Even though the years of trying take their toll, hope is renewed again and again. Adoption becomes possibility. A great organization takes them through the paces and excitement rises. “The book” gets finished and delivered, a printed peek into their lives and a birth-mommy can acquaint herself with a possible family for her baby. And we wait.
Meanwhile, DP shares vision about Heaven Fest and adoption is part of the whole this year and he shocks us with the astounding statistic that if just 7% of Christians worldwide would adopt, there would be no more orphans.
But we continue to wait.
And somewhere, a baby is being knit together in her mommy’s womb and she’ll need a home and family and God is preparing this one for her.
And we are not diminished in the waiting. We are not less anxious for the bebe to arrive, but rather enlarged with expectancy and anticipation. Oh yes, we are.
Romans 8:22-25
“All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.”
The longer we wait…the more joyful our expectancy!
The s-i-l in Haiti
Dave Powers, my firstborn’s lover and husband (and my son-in-love), went to Haiti with Convoy of Hope in early December.
Felix-the-HF-web-guy found this online this morning. This is a part of the why of Heaven Fest!
Dave Powers // Convoy of Hope Haiti Response from Wade Yamaguchi on Vimeo.
www.heavenfest.com A massive music and worship gathering.
www.convoyofhope.com A driving passion to feed the world